Equality of arms

Equality of arms is part of procedural fairness and the right to be heard. It requires a balanced opportunity for parties to know, contest and present evidence and arguments, especially where the opposing party is the state or a stronger institutional actor. Swiss civil, criminal and administrative proceedings apply the principle through rules on notification, access to submissions, evidence, legal aid and adversarial procedure. It does not require identical procedural positions, but any imbalance must be justified and must not undermine effective participation.